Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 47 Q&A
Inside the majestic palace, in front of the long bronze table.

Miss Justice looked curiously at the newly seated female figure, and was also puzzled by the empty seat belonging to the Priestess.

But just when Miss Justice was about to ask, the figure of the Priestess emerged.

It turns out it’s a bit late…

Thinking this, Miss Justice lifted her skirt and knelt before the Fool.

The girl's cheerful voice echoed throughout the palace. "Good afternoon, Mr. Fool. Good afternoon, Ms. Priestess. Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man, and the new members."

Claire endured the headache and cleared her vision. Then she tilted her head and saw the female figure sitting opposite her.

Even a black robe couldn't hide her curves, and her long, straight black hair flowed like a waterfall.

Claire just glanced at it, her attention still focused on the Fool at the top.

The Fool still sat at the head of the table, shrouded in thick fog, showing no sign of abnormality, let alone any desire to communicate with her.

Did the Fool tacitly grant me free access? Or did I derive my right to come and go from the Fool? Or was it even the Fool that had no control over my free access?

Claire thought a lot but kept her mouth shut.

Whatever the reason, it would do her no good to expose it.

What’s important right now is not the Fool, but what can be gained from this gathering organized by the Fool.

Claire chose to remain quiet.

Across from her, the new woman's charming nightingale-like voice rang out: "Where is this place? Who are you all?"

Mr. Fool was silent.

Miss Justice answered consciously and enthusiastically:

"Ma'am, this is the Tarot Club. It's a fantastical, otherworldly gathering organized by Mr. Fool."

"The one sitting at the head is the respected Mr. Fool. You may address me as Justice. Opposite me sits Mr. The Hanged Man, and opposite you sits Ms. The Priestess."

At this time, Mr. Fool finally spoke:

"To make it easier to address each other, the new lady can choose a name from the twenty-two tarot cards as a code name in the Tarot Club."

"Tarot Club, code name..." the new woman murmured softly, a hint of interest in her tone.

Twenty-two tarot cards appeared in front of her, flying on the long bronze table. Among them, "The Fool", "The High Priestess", "Justice" and "The Hanged Man" were suspended vertically, and the rest were spinning and flying.

"Then I'll just pick one at random." The new woman waited for a few seconds, then reached out and grabbed the tarot card that was spinning in front of her.

It's the Queen card.

Zhengyi said in a surprised tone, "It's the 'Queen'."

"Then just call me 'Queen'." The mysterious woman accepted the title.

Just as Justice was about to ask, "Why don't you change it?", Mr. Fool said, "Welcome, Queen."

After briefly greeting the newcomer, Mr. Fool tapped the table and smiled at Justice, saying, "Congratulations, Miss Justice. You are now a Beyonder."

Is Justice already a Beyonder? Can Mr. Fool see that directly?
Claire thought in surprise, and suppressed all of the Fool's rash thoughts.

Regardless of whether the Fool is the true master of this place or not, she is merely a Sequence 9 and must always be in awe of the unknown and extraordinary world.

Cautioning herself in her heart, Claire followed The Hanged Man in congratulating Justice.

After this little episode, Mr. Fool smiled and said, "Madam, sir, have you found Russell's diary?"

The Hanged Man replied seriously, "I found two pages of Emperor Roselle's diary and memorized their contents."

Justice said, "I have a page."

Claire also replied, "I memorized four pages."

Mr. Fool was silent for a moment, then said without any emotion, "Not bad."

Then each of them "expressed" their memories in their diary.

As Claire was expressing herself, she discovered she could actually sense what the other two were trying to say. It turned out she didn't need to actually express herself with pen and paper; as long as she had an idea to express, Mr. Fool could sense its specific meaning!
And now I can?
Claire was delighted.

She quickly memorized three diaries in her mind. The diaries copied by the other two people had missing words and typos, but it did not affect the reading.

One records a voyage on the foggy sea.

This one shows another romantic affair of Russell that is different from the previous ones.

But there was one sentence that caught Claire's special attention:

"On October 9th, they actually called me the Son of Steam. I liked it."

Son of Steam.

According to the Nighthawk historical records that Claire had read, it was during Roselle's reign over Intis that the title of the God of Craftsmen was changed to the God of Steam and Machinery.

Could it be that this senior, Emperor Roselle, had ever reached the level of a saint or even an angel?
Claire was guessing in her heart.

What caught Claire's attention more was the third picture, which revealed a lot of content that aroused Claire's interest.

"On May 21, the Church of the God of Craftsmen gave me two choices, the beginnings of two sequence paths. One is the 'Generalist', which belongs to the complete sequence chain they have mastered. The other is the 'Secret Peer', which was obtained from the Moss Ascetic Order and lacks a higher sequence."

The Church of the God of Craftsmen, now known as the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.

The Morse Ascetic Order... the hidden organization that espouses the motto "Do whatever you want, but do no harm" and worships a hidden sage.

Before the Church of the God of Craftsmen changed its name, it was able to obtain some of the "Secret Peepers" path formulas from the Moss Ascetic Order. The relationship between the two was either close or hostile.

Considering that the attitude of the "Mechanical Heart" towards the Morse Ascetic Order is also to crack down on and arrest them, the intensity of the crackdown is even far higher than that of the Night Watchers and the Mandated Punishers.

It seems that the relationship between the two must be incompatible.

Is it a feud between the church and a hidden organization? Or is it a conflict between good and evil gods?

Claire thought to herself.

While Claire and the Hanged Man were "expressing" the diary onto paper, Justice briefly explained to the Queen that the manuscript written in unknown symbols by Emperor Roselle was actually Roselle's diary.

After surprising the Queen, he then complacently explained that Mr. Fool was collecting Russell's diary.

All the materialized papers flashed into Mr. Fool's hands the moment they were completed.

Mr. Fool watched for much longer than Claire had imagined.

Everyone at the long bronze table remained silent.

After Mr. Fool put down the diary, he looked up and smiled slightly, saying, "Sorry, I was so engrossed in it."

Zhengyi approached the conversation with great emotional intelligence and asked some specific questions about his experience in "acting".

Mr. Fool easily explained the issue of justice using vivid examples.

"...The core power of the Sequence Potion is a heavily guarded castle. The remaining spirits that can cause backlash reside within the castle. Our goal is to eliminate them and truly become the master of the castle."

"...Forcing your way in might not necessarily lead to success, but it will definitely hurt you."

"...Now we have an invitation letter from the castle owner, which will allow us to pass the guards' inspection and sneak in smoothly. However, the invitation letter contains the guest's appearance and corresponding temperament description, so we must 'play'."

The Hanged Man thought deeply and asked quickly, "Is that invitation the name of the potion?"

“Yes.” Mr. Fool answered in the affirmative.

After hearing Mr. Fool's description, Claire gained a clearer understanding of "acting".

Even if Mr. Fool isn't a true god, he's definitely a wise man. Or perhaps a god in the process of resurrection?
Claire made a judgment in her heart, then took a deep breath and said, "I also have a question for Mr. Fool."

After Claire asked, there was silence for a few seconds.

After a while, Mr. Fool said, "Yes."

Claire put aside all her tentative thoughts and asked the question that concerned her most at the moment: "I want to inquire about the 'Gnosis Society' and the 'Witch Cult'."

(End of this chapter)